West Wing - Series 1-7 (Box Set) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	This is what writing should be like, the greatest ensemble of characters ever assembled
Disadvantages:	Not for the inattentive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

For me, one of the greatest tests for a television series is how it is viewed once the series has finished and the inevitable hype has died down. This is particularly the case with "topical" programmes that have a tendency to age very badly.

Not so with the West Wing. The further we get from the end of the series, the more I start to believe that the writers were psychic. Much has been made recently of the almost unbelievable foresight of the last series in particular - a relatively inexperienced ethnic minority candidate challenges a very experienced candidate who is a maverick in his own party for the Presidency. Where have I come across that recently?

Quite simply, the first four seasons of this show were the best show ever created (with the possible exception of the early seasons of The Simpsons). Not only did we see realistic solutions to real-world problems, we were witnesses to some of the most believable and realistic characters ever created.

The first series hits the ground running. Unusually for a show of this magnitude, there was no "explanatory pilot" with a detailed breakdown of who was who and how they came to be where we found them. That was reserved for the beginning of series 2.

And yet the viewer is hooked from the start. Even someone like me, with only a passing interest in American politics, found himself caught up in the nuances of, for example, how a Bill is written and passed.

Given the seriousness of the setting, it seems amazing to me that so much humour was injected. I recently read a thread on a forum entitled "Pick your funniest line from the West Wing", that run to more than 11,000 posts! The banter is sublime, the interplay between the various characters is razor sharp but never out of character.

If I had to find a quibble, there are three that come to mind. The first is that after series 4, the writing drops a notch or two with the departure of creator Aaron Sorkin. The show is still amazing but it just could not keep up with the standards set early on. And no wonder when the bar had been set so high.

The second is that as much as I recommend this show to other people, you have to have an interest in America and American politics to stick with it for seven seasons - the shows can be incredibly complicated and hard to follow. It can also be very difficult to follow in some instances if you haven's seen what has come before.

The third quibble is in relation to the dialogue. Do not watch this show if you cannot give it your undivided attention for the full length of the episode. On the DVD version I have, the subtitles simply cannot keep up! The first time I watched an episode, I found myself rewinding a lot just to make sure that I had heard everything properly.

But my God its worth it.